Rust and Rocks: LA JENELLE’s Wreck 41 Years On

Forty one years ago, Channel Islands Harbor in Ventura County, California came close to hosting a retired ocean liner as a floating hotel and restaurant.

Channel Islands Harbor is at the top of the map. LA JENELLE lies st the western entrance to Port Hueneme (lower portion of map).

Instead, a much different fate awaited the steamer LA JENELLE, which perished on Silver Strand Beach in Oxnard, adjacent to busy Port Hueneme. The notion that portions of the ship still exist came as quite a surprise a few years ago when fellow cruise writer/ship historian/MaritimeMatters contributor Shawn Dake mentioned a huge winter storm had uncovered much of the wreck. What wreck? Most accounts of the ship’s sad demise stated that she was scrapped on site. These same reports also misspelled her name as LA JANELLE.

LA JENELLE memorial plaque.

Here is what a brass plaque near the breakwater that now entombs large parts of the once gallant American merchant ship says:

“Buried beneath the beach is the 467-foot hull of the ‘La Jenelle’. The luxury liner was driven aground at this site during a coastal storm on April 13, 1970. The State Lands Commission coordinated a joint Federal, State and Local Governmental effort to convert the remains of the derelict ship from a safety hazard to this recreational area for public benefit. The backside park and fishing area, constructed with state funds, is maintained by the county of Ventura.”

BORINQUEN post card. Shawn Dake collection.

The LA JENELLE saga began in 1931 at the Bethlehem Steel Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts when the 7,114 gross ton BORINQUEN was completed for the New York and Puerto Rico Steamship Company. The BORINQUEN carried 261 first class and 96 second class passengers on a fortnightly service to San Juan and Ciudad Trujillo (Dominican Republic). In January of 1942, she was requisitioned for U.S. war service, serving successfully as a transport with a capacity of 1,289 soldiers. In 1946, she returned to Bethlehem Steel for a major renovation for Agwilines’ and later Bull Lines’ service to Puerto Rico. From 1949, the ship operated under the name PUERTO RICO before being laid up at New York and offered for sale in 1953.

AROSA STAR. Shawn Dake collection.

In 1954, the PUERTO RICO was bought by newly formed, Swiss-based Arosa Line, which took the ship to Bremerhaven for a USD $1 million rebuilding into the AROSA STAR for budget transatlantic service between Bremerhaven and Quebec.

AROSA STAR postcard. Shawn Dake collection.

AROSA STAR deluxe cabin. Shawn Dake collection.

AROSA STAR cabin. Shawn Dake collection.

When the AROSA STAR emerged from the shipyard, she had been reconfigured to accommodate 38 passengers in first and 768 in tourist class. She was also the recipient of a modernized, raked bow. In addition to crossings, the AROSA STAR was employed in Bermuda and Caribbean cruise service (with a reduced capacity of 414) from New York and Miami.

Arosa Line was a notoriously short lived blip in transatlantic liner and cruising history. Plagued by safety issues, bad publicity and financial overreach, the quickly-assembled Arosa fleet of four ships was arrested and auctioned off.

SS BAHAMA STAR. Peter Knego collection.

AROSA STAR was sold to Eastern Steamship Lines in June of 1959. Following another refit, the ship entered three and four night Bahamas cruise service from Miami as the BAHAMA STAR. With all berths occupied, the now fully air conditioned ship had a rather high passenger capacity of 735. Here is an excerpt from Laurence Dunn’s 1965 edition of “Passenger Liners”: “The passenger decks are “Promenade, A, B, C and D. The after half of Promenade Deck contains the main series of public rooms, the deluxe cabins being forward. Both Promenade and A Deck cabins have two and three berths, some 25 having their own shower and toilet, some just toilet. The cabins on the next three decks are 2-4-6 berths. The dining saloon is on B Deck, amidships. Aft, there is a calypso lounge and writing room. Public spaces and some cabins were redecorated and refurbished in 1965.”

BAHAMA STAR at Nassau. Peter Knego collection.

The BAHAMA STAR has a legacy as one of Miami’s pioneering cruise ships and remained extremely popular for the greater part of the next decade. The ship made headlines when she rescued 378 passengers from burning fleetmate YARMOUTH CASTLE off Nassau in 1965. New SOLAS regulations in the aftermath of that and several other passenger ship fires would soon force the elderly BAHAMA STAR to undergo prohibitively costly renovations or retire.

BAHAMA STAR made her last cruise in November of 1968 and was immediately offered for sale. Panamanian buyers eventually purchased and leased the ship to a California-based venture as the LA JENELLE floating restaurant and hotel at Channel Islands Harbor in Ventura. After it was discovered the waters were not deep enough, LA JENELLE lay in limbo awaiting the harbor’s dredging or a further sale or charter. On April 13, 1970, an unusually fierce storm drove her from her moorings and onto the beach.

Helicopter rescue. Ventura County Maritime Museum image.

LA JENELLE capsized in the monster surf. Stranded crew members had to be rescued by helicopter as the ship was battered beyond salvation.

LA JENELLE on her side. Photo and copyright Gordon Ghareeb 1970.

California-based ship historian and MaritimeMatters contributor Gordon Ghareeb (co author with Martin Cox of the Los Angeles Steamship Company history, “Hollywood to Honolulu”) went to visit the wreck a month or so after she beached and shared the following series of rare and dramatic images.

Gordon recently recalled, “I was also up there after demolition had started and there were lots (like dozens and dozens) of dining room chairs lined up on the beach. All ya needed to do was pick one up. But that was prior to my souvenir hunting days, so they all sat on the beach. Oh well.”

LA JENELLE on fire. Ventura County Maritime Museum image.

The U.S. Navy (a base is adjacent to the Port Hueneme harbor entrance) was eventually called in to dismantle LA JENELLE. Shortly thereafter, a fire ravaged the stranded ship’s accommodation.

Scrapping underway. Ventura County Maritime Museum image.

With her superstructure and portions of her hull removed, the gutted carcass of LA JENELLE was filled with sand, boulders and concrete to become an extension of the northern Port Hueneme jetty. Most of her superstructure was dumped a few miles out to sea to form La Jenelle Reef, an acclaimed spot for intermediate to advanced divers.

Over the decades, high surf eventually began to expose bits of the old liner. Gordon Ghareeb and Shawn Dake made occasional pilgrimages to the site and documented the process.

Seaside view 2011. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2011.

Singapore-based Tradewinds reporter Jonathan Boonzaier joined me on my latest trek to Oxnard this past August. LA JENELLE is some 25 miles from my house, at the end of West Road off Victoria Avenue. Today, the outer edge of the breakwater has all but crumbled into the sea, revealing patches of moss and rust-covered steel.

LA JANELLE versus the surf. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2011.

Rotting decks and framework plunge almost vertically into the surf. Even on calm days, the seas off the wreck are treacherous. A scuba diver recently drowned in a nearby kelp bed.

Rivets in rust. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2011

To visiting fishermen and casual passersby, the rusting steel between the rocks is pretty nondescript.

Counter culture. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2011.

Stairway in stone. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2011.

There are some tangible remnants of LA JENELLE, including a twisted section of the counter stern and a mangled staircase.

LA JENELLE reclaimed. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2011.

After climbing around the wreck site and out along the crumbling jetty, we drove off to the nearby Ventura County Maritime Museum to see the LA JENELLE exhibit.

The Ventura County Maritime Museum is located on the east side of Channel Islands Harbor at 2731 Victoria Avenue in Oxnard, California (805-984-6260). Hours are 11:00 to 5:00 daily and admission is free but donations are happily accepted by the friendly volunteer staff. The museum will be moving to a larger site on the west side of Channel Islands Harbor in the near future.

Artifacts rescued from the LA JENELLE wreck, including the steering station, name board, cowls, a telegraph and life preserver, were donated to the museum by Martin V. and Martha K. Smith in 1998. The irony is that they are now where they would have been had LA JENELLE become a floating restaurant and hotel.

References: Fifty Famous Liners, Volume Two by Frank O. Braynard and William H. Miller; Passenger Liners by Laurence Dunn

Having documented over 400 passenger ships and taken more than 200 cruises, MaritimeMatters’ co-editor Peter Knego is a leading freelance cruise writer, a respected ocean liner historian and frequent maritime lecturer both on land and at sea. With his work regularly featured in cruise industry trades and consumer publications. Knego also runs the www.midshipcentury.com website which offers MidCentury cruise ship furniture, artwork and fittings rescued from the shipbreaking yards of Alang, India. He has produced several videos on the subject, including his latest, The Sands Of Alang and the best-selling On The Road To Alang."

About The Author

pknego

Having documented over 400 passenger ships and taken more than 200 cruises, MaritimeMatters’ co-editor Peter Knego is a leading freelance cruise writer, a respected ocean liner historian and frequent maritime lecturer both on land and at sea. With his work regularly featured in cruise industry trades and consumer publications. Knego also runs the www.midshipcentury.com website which offers MidCentury cruise ship furniture, artwork and fittings rescued from the shipbreaking yards of Alang, India. He has produced several videos on the subject, including his latest, The Sands Of Alang and the best-selling On The Road To Alang."

What a wonderful piece on the La Jenelle ex Bahama Star. As you can see by my e mail this ship made a big impact on me when I was a young boy. To be brief, our best family friends sailed on the Yarmouth Castle from Miami on November 12, 1965 and the lives were saved by the actions of the late Captain Carl Netherland Brown early morning November 13th as he directed the rescue operations from the bridge of the Bahama Star. He was only 29 at the time. In 1966 our family took a 3 day cruise on the Bahama Star to Nassau, and I remember it as one of my greatest childhood memories.

Twenty years later, I met Captain Carl Netherland Brown as he was a Biscayne Bay Harbor Pilot, and we became friends. He was a true gentleman, lover of ships, and the consummate mariner. We enjoyed many talks together. Captain Brown died in March 2007

I had a feeling this ship had something to do with the rescue of the passengers of the YARMOUTH CASTLE in 1965, but I had to be sure. Thank you Jeff for pointing that out. The BAHAMAS STAR had to be a wonderful ship to sail on. I would have loved to sail her.

The Bahama Star was a great ship to sail on. Even after 45 years I remember the unique “smells” as I walked forward on the boat deck past the engineroom skylights, stack and galley exhaust. The aroma was a unique mixture of oily engineroom smells and moist air coming from the skylights and “cooking” smells from the galley exhaust. It was great to sail on a steam passenger ship.

I often wondered if my family traveled on the BORINQUEN from Puerto Rico to New York. I could recall my dad mentioning a ship but he was not sure of the name. I have shared this story to all of my family and amigos from Puerto Rico…Great Story ! Thanks (gracias) 🙂

BAHAMA STAR has always been my favorite ship among ocean liners. Visiting California, Gordon Ghareeb took me to the LA JANELLE wreck and I also had the priviledge of speaking with Capt. Brown shortly before he died. He was very helpful in supplying me details I needed to complete my second large scale model of BAHAMA STAR which I proudly display here in my den.

What an excellent article and history of this little liner. I remember trying to climb aboard after she wrecked and was warned off as being too dangerous. I was young and invincable… BUT regretted NOT going aboard her. I was told she was fairly intact interior-wise. Just a jumbled mess of furniture and fittings. I was not aware that she formed the base of this jetty. Excellent photos, too!
THANKS for the information.

It would be interesting to see how the surf area was before the ship made the jetty. The waves
are incredible during winter months but I understand the natural submarine canyon has alot
to do with it as well.
Great article.

I have memories of this ship when i was a kid and always wondered what happened to it.This is so amazing to see these pictures after all of these years.What a great job you’ve done putting this together.Thank you!

As a young child…I was on the beach watching as the Helicopter made the rescue…It was a very windy day when the La Jenelle got Stranded….Great Story and photos…Brings back many memories.
We used to climb onto that ship before they fenced it in and started demolition/scraping it.

To me this ship will always be the Arosa Star. It brought my family from Germany to Quebec in 1958, the crossing taking almost 2 weeks! It was clearly not suited to the stormy North Atlantic. I remember the thrill of weathering one storm in the play area: we would line up with the toys along one wall, then, when the ship rolled, we’d slide across and crash into the other. Turn around, and repeat! A perpetual slide – never having to climb anything!
If I ever make it back to California, I’ll visit and pay tribute.

I still remember La Janelle off shore previous to the tragic ending, watching her curiously while I was living on Silver Strand Beach. It was sad to see her beach that fateful day. The winds were blowing at 92 MPH!

It was with great interest that I read this article, I am retired and living on Silverstrand beach past 6 years told by people on beach about La Janelle and I had walk untold number of times by the placque, on visit to museum, with grand daughter noted the name and lineage of La Janelle and name Borinquen struck a cord! My father told me he had come to NY as a young man from Puerto Rico, doing further research using ancestory.com I found his name on passenger list and also my mother who came as a young bride to NY on board the Borinquen in 1932 and my dad again in 1938. It is ironic that I am retired on this beach and the connection showing how my mother and father came to this country rests here!!! I am in the search for any memorabila of the ship I can get (I actually got a teaspoon from it!!!) thanks for the wonderful article

Great to see all of the photos and read the great story.
The Bahama Star has a great place in my life. As an aspiring South Florida drummer I was the Ship’s Drummer at age 14…… yes 14. I played with both the Orchestra and the Rock Band. She was my home for almost a year during 1964. Interesting that during my Christmas break from school in 65 the Cruise Line begged me to come back and play, just during my break from school. (I had missed almost a year) My mother said NO, I could not go, she said she had worried enough. It was during that time that the Yarmouth Castle was lost and the Bahama Star was to rescue the surrvivors. Some times Mom’s know best.
I recall many a night watching the lights of the Yarmouth Castle as she sailed nearby us on our way to Nassau. In Nassau both the Ships would dock at the same pier. Interesting that I went on to the service in 1968 and was stationed at Port Hueneme for a year, leaving just two months before the grounding and loss.

I well recall that morning when she ran aground. I was 13 years old and saw it in the morning paper or on the news, I forget which. I had my dad drive me out there from north Oxnard as soon as he could to take a look. It was mesmerizing to see that huge vessel on her side, just lying there. The winds were strong and the air was cold as we all stood on the beach in a state of fascinated reverence. It seemed like a short swim to reach the hull, but that was not going to happen. I seem to remember a chain link cage encircling it not long after, but I don’t that in the photos.

Thank God for the web, to bring those details back to me… great write up indeed.

My Grandson just caught his first fish aboard the sportfishing boat Coroloma anchored atop the La Janelle Reef that was formed from the superstructure they towed offshore. Great fishing spot, 41 years later!

A few days after the wreck during the lowest tide of the year. Me and my brothers boarded the La Janelle and retrieved portholes which the area restaurants paid dearly for. I remember standing flat against the doors to the grand ballroom…it was awesome

What a great article! My family and I were on the S.S. Bahama Star in December of 1964 when I was 11. We went to Nassau and had a cabin that was very small for 2 adults and 3 kids. I remember the locals diving for money that we would toss over the side of the ship when we in port. I lost touch with whatever became of the this ship, so it was very interesting reading and seeing the pictures. My daughter just so happens to be named Janelle. Maybe it was fate that we named her after the ship La Jenelle. Thanks again for all your hard work.

in 1956 this ship brought my father as a nine year old boy to his new life in canada. he and his family had fled hungary after the uprising. i am very moved to see this page and think that the ship is there in the reef like that. if i could ever afford to i would like to go see it and take a little piece home and make a ring out of it. (i cast jewellry). thank you so much for this research!

My husband was a boy of nine living on Silver Strand Beach when the La Jenelle washed ashore. They lived near the beach and saw it often. His dad was as fascinated as he was. He wished he was a little older because he said he would have been all over that ship, a few short years latter he was surfing this same beach. It made a lasting impression, he was in awe of the gigantic ship sitting in the surf. His father died a few years ago and we inherited a porthole and a wonderful picture of the La Jenelle. It is similar to Gordon’s first pic taken a month or so after the beaching. Our photo is blown up to 18″ x 24″ it was taken in better light on a better day and probably shortly after it was beached, there is no rust near the windows and portholes and no fencing, or rigging to access the ship. I almost feel like I’m standing on the beach seeing the beached ship for the first time when I see the photo.

I remember seeing La Jenelle on the beach shortly after the accident. By that time the city had erected the chain link fence and had collected a lot of stuff off the ship there. There were a few lifeboats that still said “Bahama Star” on them. I was utterly fascinated by the big ship and asked my dad to take us to Silver Strand whenever we had a beach day. I think I was in junior high school at the time, a 7th grader. Later that year I made a school trip out to Anacapa Island, leaving from Channel Islands harbor. It was my first view of La Jenelle from the water and I distinctly recall seeing the green-painted roofs of the upper deck superstructure plus a lot of fire damage. Many years later I hiked out onto that jetty, wondering what had become of the big ship, only to realize that is was standing on its remains.

Reading this excellent article on the La Janelle brought back some terrifying memories of that historic day.

I was 10 years old, my mother was six months pregnant with my sister as my family set out from Marina Del Rey on our 36 foot ChrisCraft yacht for a day trip out to Anacapa Island. As soon as we left the calm waters of the lee side of the island, we were hit with high winds that battered our boat.

We were soon fighting for our lives, as the swells grew in height. My step father wrestled with the boat’s steering wheel as we literally fell into a huge valley of dark gray ocean. As we made our way up to the top of the next crest, we would again fall down into the next deep valley.

I still remember shivering in my life jacket and drawing my breath in every time we would slip down again, seeing nothing but huge mountains of water in front and in back of us. My mother was hugging the pole that supported the fly deck, as we were stuck in this never ending nightmare. It took us five terrifying hours of traversing the valleys of water until we barely made it into Oxnard Harbor. We saw the La Janelle as she was being pounded by the waves as we limped our way past her, just happy to be alive. We later found out there were fatalities at Anacapa as a sailboat or two sunk during the storm.

My step father was also the owner of a Demolition Company and he was involved in dismantling the ship for the city of Oxnard as she lay rusting on her side. We have a few port holes and other artifacts from the ship as well.

I remember reading about the wreck in the LA Times so for my 13th birthday on April 18, 1970 my parents drove me from LA up to Oxnard to have a look at the ship a few days after it ran aground.
It was big and facinating. I wanted to try and go aboard but my father wouldn’t hear of it. I remember lots of people on the beach and buying a souviner booklet from some guy. I might still have it somewhere…

I still remember as a seven year old crossing the Atlantic in September of 1957 with my family from Bremerhaven to Montreal when she was the Arosa Star. I had no idea she was so small. I also have vivid recollections of the ship being pummeled by gigantic waves that dwarfed her brought on by Hurricane Carrie, and the excitement of passing the Queen Mary.

For as long as I can remember, I have always had a wooden hanger with the name SS Bahama Star imprinted on it. I am not clear how I came to own it but do remember that an aunt of mine did go to Nassau for her honeymoon. Would she have been on the ship? To this day I do not know. Something told me today to look it up on Google to learn about it’s history. What a great article and follow up comments. I am happy and proud to own a small piece of shipping history.

I Boarded the “AROSA STAR” in Bremerhafen on September 24th 1954.
She was to take me to a new life in Canada, the mood was excitement and apprehension.
I had never seen an ocean so I was impressed by her size, all of her 8000 tons. When we reached the Irish Sea we were greeted by a major storm with 30 foot waves and now she felt quite small.
At times the bow appeared to point skywards and then dived to be fully submerged. That’s when the propeller cleared the water and started racing and the entire ship would shake.
After two weeks of this we landed in Quebec and I kissed the ground.
I promised to never take an Ocean Cruise again and I have kept that promise.

As a twelve year old boy in July 1956, I also boarded the Arosa Star in Bremerhafen destined for Quebec City. I just casually googled the name and came across your article. It is sad to read that the ship experienced a sad demise. Thanks for the informative article.

I was about7 and we lived on SilverStrand Beach. I remember this ship very well. She was a magnificent beast and a sight I will never forget. As a matter of fact she left such an impression on me that I became a Marine Archaeologist due to my complete obsession with ships and shipwrecks. I have never forgotten her!

I just wanted to add that my grandparents sailed on the SS Borinquen in 1932, on their honeymoon. They went to Puerto Rico and Haiti and my grandfather, who was aa advertising photographer, took lots of photographs from the ship’s deck, including one of boys diving off a pier to retrieve coins thrown into the water while the ship was in port. Grandma had told us stories of her honeymoon, not mentioning the ship, though she did have a postcard that she’d bought, and displayed on the wall in the den, I now have the same framed picture in my own home when it passed to me fifteen years ago.

As the Borinquen she was, as noted, a USAT troopship from 1942 to 1945. She carried troops from New York to Gurock, Scotland, Belfast Northern Ireland, and on D-Day was in the English Channel waiting to off load soldiers into landing craft off Omaha Beach. Because of the horrific battle on that beach, the Borinquen was delayed a day and as she approached the invasion beach the morning of July 7th, 1944, the ship ahead of her in the four ship convoy struck a mine and subsequently sank without the loss of a single life. The Susan B. Anthony still lies on the bottom off Omaha Beach. I know because my father, Navy Lt. Don O’Brien was the commander of the Armed Guard sailors tasked with manning the guns used to defend the Borinquen–an Army vessel. That night they fired on a German bomber attacking the massed ships off Normandy. As Lt. O’Brien reported, the result was obscured by the gun flash. Both the ship and my father left the service at the end of World War II.

Thank you so much for this fantastic recounting of your father’s and the BORINQUEN’s heroic service. Such an important part of her long and varied career. Honored that you posted it here. Many thanks, Peter

I was 12 when I saw the La Janelle laying on it’s side, I was living in northern california at the time. My dad was working in camarillio and we came down to visit him, he took us down to see the ship, it was mesmerizing. We moved here a year later and by that time the ship had been cut up. I bought my first house on Silver Strand beach, and have lived here for the last 25 years on and off. The image is still in my mind. As a matter of fact I was out at the ship today. Thanks for your great article, and to read all the stories of her past. It gives me perspective of the great life she had, here end was sad, but she does live on not only in memory but happens to be a fantastic spot for scuba diving and fishing.

One of the L.A. Times’ comments was from the then 9 year old owner’s daughter whose dad owned the La Jenelle and named the ship after her mother. The owner’s family made the cruise from Florida to California with just the family and the crew.

Her Comment is: “Carolyn Conroy · 59 weeks ago
My dad was the owner of the La Jenelle. He named it after my mom. We cruised on that beautiful ship from FL to CA the summer I was 9. Just us and the crew. It was an amazing experience. I had no idea there were so many stories printed about the La Jenele. I just found these.”

As a reserve firefighter for Ventura County Fire Station 53. I remember the La Jenelle. It was quite a sight. I especially remember going over the long bridge since I don’t swim. Then when we got to the ship looking down the hole. Again it was quite a sight. Thank you for the memories